Book Review: A Folk Epic: The Bygdelag in America by Odd Sverre Lovoll and The Norwegian-Americans by Arlow W. Andersen

Erik Friis (editor). THE SCANDINAVIAN PRESENCE IN NORTH AMER­ICA.
New York: Harper's Magazine Press, 1976, 266 pp. Cloth, $10.00.
This book is the result of a seminar of the same title held in Minneapolis
in 1973, whose purpose was to explore "the present state of and future
prospects for the Scandinavian presence in America." It is an attempt to
convey the diversity of the meeting, and as such, it succeeds admirably.
To print a transcript of the entire two day's proceedings would have been
impractical and abridgements have been made in the addresses and the
ensuing discussions of the sixty-five participants. The excellent opening
address, by Prof. Joshua Fishman of Yeshiva University, "The Future of
Ethnicity in America," is printed in full and offers a provocative view
of the shape of that ethnicity, which he sees as centered around non-
English language maintenance. In his discussion of this address, Franklin
Scott challenges Prof. Fishman's projection and offers instead "the dual
heritage," the interaction of the inherited culture with the new and on­going
one, as the locus of our ethnicity. Both agree, however, that eth­nicity
is here to stay, as do most of the succeeding line of illustrious
speakers, whose talks demonstrated the breadth of the Scandinavian pres­ence
on this continent. The topics were "The Church and Scandinavian
Ethnicity," "Brotherhoods and Fraternal Organizations," "Special Interest
Societies," "Education and the Scandinavian Presence," "The Immigrant
Newspaper," "The Presentation of Scandinavia in America Through Books,
Periodicals, and Nonliterary Media," and "Scanpresence as Seen From
the Mother Countries," with a first-rate summation of the entire confer­ence
by Prof. Einar Haugen. The book is directed to the non-scholar and
is a good, and positive (if also occasionally a bit wistful) survey of the
present position of Scandinavians in North America. As a postscript, it is
worth noting that a second "Scanpresence" conference is in the making.
A L A N SWANSON
Augustana College
Odd Sverre Lovoll. A FOLK EPIC: THE BYGDELAG IN AMERICA.
Boston: Twayne for the Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1975.
328 pp.
Arlow W. Andersen. T H E NORWEGIAN-AMERICANS. Boston: Twayne,
1975. 274 pp.
The Norwegian-Americans are maintaining both the quantity and the
quality of their historical productivity. Two recent volumes were inspired
by the 1975 sesquicentennial remembrance of the voyage of the Sloopers,
the first group-migration of Norwegians to the United States.
The Norwegian-American b y g d e l a g were somewhat similar to the Swed­ish
hembygdsföreningar, but more popular and more tenacious. The sep¬
arateness of Norway's valleys encouraged the growth of provincial dialects
and patriotism, and it was natural that the nostalgia of localism should
be enhanced among the emigrants. The linguistic and general cultural
135
affinities that the emigrants took with them to America drew together
people of common background. The geographic basis of brotherly under­standing
might be anything from a parish to a province; whatever it was,
the sympathetic comradeship of men and women who knew the same
mountains and rivers and spoke the same tongue helped disoriented new­comers
to find a kind of tribal fellowship. Odd Lovoll counts 129 societies
(lag) founded on regional ( b y g d ) origin in Norway. Some were small and
short-lived, but about fifty developed broad clienteles in the United States
and functioned for several decades.
First to organize was the Valdres b y g d e l a g in 1899, and it held conven­tions
( s t e v n e ) that gathered several thousand participants to annual love-feasts
of two or three days' duration, held at the time of the Minnesota
state fair. As additional b y g d e l a g formed for immigrants from Trøndelag,
Sogn, Stavanger, Hardanger, Voss, and other districts small and large, cer­tain
common characteristics became obvious, and the author analyzes
well both the variations and the similarities.
Many of the lag, he finds, were strongly pious and often under the
leadership of ministers; some were actually parish groups which migrated
together and which deplored the rowdiness and worldliness of other im­migrant
organizations. Nevertheless, heavy drinking became a problem
at many of the s t e v n e . The get-togethers emphasized traditional dances,
local jokes, and provincial speech, although Lovoll introduces a somewhat
contradictory discussion, too, pointing out the preference for the Dano-
Norwegian rigsmaal in contrast to the landsmaal (pp. 36-37; cf. p. 50).
Emotion rather than intellect ruled the societies and rural patterns and
ideals predominated.
The period of flourishing was limited, c. 1900-1925, because the really
devoted members were of the first generation; as they fell away and the
second generation moved and intermarried and took part in other or­ganizations
the need for the b y g d e l a g declined. Some adapted themselves
by becoming less exclusive, and still survive. Whether they lived or died
they had served their primary purpose by providing anchorage for the
troubled and homesick: they eased, and slowed, adjustment for those who
felt the marginality of their position between two cultures; they coun­teracted
the psychological disruption of the migration experience.
Even in their heyday the b y g d e l a g faced opposition from those who
felt nationalism to be more important than regionalism and who feared
that these organizations were only "systematized disunity." As time went
on the separateness of the b y g d e l a g was diminished by the creation of
the Council of Bygdelag and by the processes of assimilation. National
identification as Norwegians gradually superseded the local distinctions
that held little meaning in the American context.
Through correspondence and questionnaires the author has accumulated
a large body of material on the b y g d e l a g which is being added to the ar­chives
of the Norwegian-American Historical Association in Northfield. On
a solid foundation of minutes and memoirs and interviews Lovoll has
136
been able to interpret this immigrant phenomenon with thorough under­standing.
A broader treatment of T h e N o r w e g i a n - A m e r i c a n s is provided by Arlow
Andersen, a veteran in the field who has written on the Norwegian-Amer­ican
press ( T h e I m m i g r a n t T a k e s H i s S t a n d ) , and on the Norwegian-Da­nish
Methodist Church in America ( T h e Salt of t h e E a r t h ) . In this new
book Professor Andersen surveys the entire scene from "The Land They
Left Behind," on through the crossing of the Atlantic and through dis­cussions
of the varied facets of life in the new land. While himself one
of the subjects about whom he writes, the author is also a historian well
acquainted with the entire American scene. His book therefore attains a
valuable perspective—he even cites comments by Fiorella LaGuardia and
recognizes the work of the Swedish pastor, Olof G. Hedström. He records
the activities of Norwegian-American leaders in business, church, pro­fessions,
with enough colorful detail to make them come alive. He gives
an appreciative nutshell treatment of the b y g d e l a g , and also, of course,
the Sons of Norway and Nordmanns Forbundet.
Both Lovoll and Andersen pay their respects to the interchange of per­sons
and ideas between Norway and the United States, although Ander­sen's
treatment embraces a wider scope of activities and influences. His
final chapter on "Ideas in Transit" stresses the fact that "Norwegian im­migrants
kept one foot in the homeland, at least temporarily." The ocean
liners brought to American shores not only immigrants but also visitors
like Carl J. Hambro, Halvdan Koht, and Hans Tambs Lyche, who kept
their fellow-nationals in touch with the mother country and interpreted
America to those who stayed home. Ties between religious groups, social
organizations (such as the b y g d e l a g ) , temperance and other reform move­ments,
created lasting common bonds. Books and newspapers did much
to overcome an initial old country antagonism toward the migrants who
had "deserted." "The first wave of emigrants responded to an inner com­pulsion
to describe and analyze American society." This compulsion dis­appeared
in the second generation and the connections of blood relation­ship
weakened, but the bonds of common interests and similar ideals led
to ever-increasing cooperation.
Swedish-American readers will see in these two volumes certain dif­ferences
in the experiences of Swedes and Norwegians in their trans­planting
to the west, but they will find even more parallelisms.
FRANKLIN D. SCOTT
T h e H o n n o l d L i b r a ry
C l a r e m o n t
A l v i n C. Holmes. S W E D I S H H O M E S T E A D S I N I D A H O ON T H E M I N I ­D
O K A IRRIGATION PROJECT. Twin Falls, Idaho: Ace Printing, 1976.
130 pp.
For Americans who emigrated from Sweden before the First World War
and their "Swedish-American" descendants, Mr. Holmes' book might well
be a source of both pleasure and inspiration.
137

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Erik Friis (editor). THE SCANDINAVIAN PRESENCE IN NORTH AMER­ICA.
New York: Harper's Magazine Press, 1976, 266 pp. Cloth, $10.00.
This book is the result of a seminar of the same title held in Minneapolis
in 1973, whose purpose was to explore "the present state of and future
prospects for the Scandinavian presence in America." It is an attempt to
convey the diversity of the meeting, and as such, it succeeds admirably.
To print a transcript of the entire two day's proceedings would have been
impractical and abridgements have been made in the addresses and the
ensuing discussions of the sixty-five participants. The excellent opening
address, by Prof. Joshua Fishman of Yeshiva University, "The Future of
Ethnicity in America," is printed in full and offers a provocative view
of the shape of that ethnicity, which he sees as centered around non-
English language maintenance. In his discussion of this address, Franklin
Scott challenges Prof. Fishman's projection and offers instead "the dual
heritage," the interaction of the inherited culture with the new and on­going
one, as the locus of our ethnicity. Both agree, however, that eth­nicity
is here to stay, as do most of the succeeding line of illustrious
speakers, whose talks demonstrated the breadth of the Scandinavian pres­ence
on this continent. The topics were "The Church and Scandinavian
Ethnicity," "Brotherhoods and Fraternal Organizations," "Special Interest
Societies," "Education and the Scandinavian Presence," "The Immigrant
Newspaper," "The Presentation of Scandinavia in America Through Books,
Periodicals, and Nonliterary Media," and "Scanpresence as Seen From
the Mother Countries," with a first-rate summation of the entire confer­ence
by Prof. Einar Haugen. The book is directed to the non-scholar and
is a good, and positive (if also occasionally a bit wistful) survey of the
present position of Scandinavians in North America. As a postscript, it is
worth noting that a second "Scanpresence" conference is in the making.
A L A N SWANSON
Augustana College
Odd Sverre Lovoll. A FOLK EPIC: THE BYGDELAG IN AMERICA.
Boston: Twayne for the Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1975.
328 pp.
Arlow W. Andersen. T H E NORWEGIAN-AMERICANS. Boston: Twayne,
1975. 274 pp.
The Norwegian-Americans are maintaining both the quantity and the
quality of their historical productivity. Two recent volumes were inspired
by the 1975 sesquicentennial remembrance of the voyage of the Sloopers,
the first group-migration of Norwegians to the United States.
The Norwegian-American b y g d e l a g were somewhat similar to the Swed­ish
hembygdsföreningar, but more popular and more tenacious. The sep¬
arateness of Norway's valleys encouraged the growth of provincial dialects
and patriotism, and it was natural that the nostalgia of localism should
be enhanced among the emigrants. The linguistic and general cultural
135
affinities that the emigrants took with them to America drew together
people of common background. The geographic basis of brotherly under­standing
might be anything from a parish to a province; whatever it was,
the sympathetic comradeship of men and women who knew the same
mountains and rivers and spoke the same tongue helped disoriented new­comers
to find a kind of tribal fellowship. Odd Lovoll counts 129 societies
(lag) founded on regional ( b y g d ) origin in Norway. Some were small and
short-lived, but about fifty developed broad clienteles in the United States
and functioned for several decades.
First to organize was the Valdres b y g d e l a g in 1899, and it held conven­tions
( s t e v n e ) that gathered several thousand participants to annual love-feasts
of two or three days' duration, held at the time of the Minnesota
state fair. As additional b y g d e l a g formed for immigrants from Trøndelag,
Sogn, Stavanger, Hardanger, Voss, and other districts small and large, cer­tain
common characteristics became obvious, and the author analyzes
well both the variations and the similarities.
Many of the lag, he finds, were strongly pious and often under the
leadership of ministers; some were actually parish groups which migrated
together and which deplored the rowdiness and worldliness of other im­migrant
organizations. Nevertheless, heavy drinking became a problem
at many of the s t e v n e . The get-togethers emphasized traditional dances,
local jokes, and provincial speech, although Lovoll introduces a somewhat
contradictory discussion, too, pointing out the preference for the Dano-
Norwegian rigsmaal in contrast to the landsmaal (pp. 36-37; cf. p. 50).
Emotion rather than intellect ruled the societies and rural patterns and
ideals predominated.
The period of flourishing was limited, c. 1900-1925, because the really
devoted members were of the first generation; as they fell away and the
second generation moved and intermarried and took part in other or­ganizations
the need for the b y g d e l a g declined. Some adapted themselves
by becoming less exclusive, and still survive. Whether they lived or died
they had served their primary purpose by providing anchorage for the
troubled and homesick: they eased, and slowed, adjustment for those who
felt the marginality of their position between two cultures; they coun­teracted
the psychological disruption of the migration experience.
Even in their heyday the b y g d e l a g faced opposition from those who
felt nationalism to be more important than regionalism and who feared
that these organizations were only "systematized disunity." As time went
on the separateness of the b y g d e l a g was diminished by the creation of
the Council of Bygdelag and by the processes of assimilation. National
identification as Norwegians gradually superseded the local distinctions
that held little meaning in the American context.
Through correspondence and questionnaires the author has accumulated
a large body of material on the b y g d e l a g which is being added to the ar­chives
of the Norwegian-American Historical Association in Northfield. On
a solid foundation of minutes and memoirs and interviews Lovoll has
136
been able to interpret this immigrant phenomenon with thorough under­standing.
A broader treatment of T h e N o r w e g i a n - A m e r i c a n s is provided by Arlow
Andersen, a veteran in the field who has written on the Norwegian-Amer­ican
press ( T h e I m m i g r a n t T a k e s H i s S t a n d ) , and on the Norwegian-Da­nish
Methodist Church in America ( T h e Salt of t h e E a r t h ) . In this new
book Professor Andersen surveys the entire scene from "The Land They
Left Behind," on through the crossing of the Atlantic and through dis­cussions
of the varied facets of life in the new land. While himself one
of the subjects about whom he writes, the author is also a historian well
acquainted with the entire American scene. His book therefore attains a
valuable perspective—he even cites comments by Fiorella LaGuardia and
recognizes the work of the Swedish pastor, Olof G. Hedström. He records
the activities of Norwegian-American leaders in business, church, pro­fessions,
with enough colorful detail to make them come alive. He gives
an appreciative nutshell treatment of the b y g d e l a g , and also, of course,
the Sons of Norway and Nordmanns Forbundet.
Both Lovoll and Andersen pay their respects to the interchange of per­sons
and ideas between Norway and the United States, although Ander­sen's
treatment embraces a wider scope of activities and influences. His
final chapter on "Ideas in Transit" stresses the fact that "Norwegian im­migrants
kept one foot in the homeland, at least temporarily." The ocean
liners brought to American shores not only immigrants but also visitors
like Carl J. Hambro, Halvdan Koht, and Hans Tambs Lyche, who kept
their fellow-nationals in touch with the mother country and interpreted
America to those who stayed home. Ties between religious groups, social
organizations (such as the b y g d e l a g ) , temperance and other reform move­ments,
created lasting common bonds. Books and newspapers did much
to overcome an initial old country antagonism toward the migrants who
had "deserted." "The first wave of emigrants responded to an inner com­pulsion
to describe and analyze American society." This compulsion dis­appeared
in the second generation and the connections of blood relation­ship
weakened, but the bonds of common interests and similar ideals led
to ever-increasing cooperation.
Swedish-American readers will see in these two volumes certain dif­ferences
in the experiences of Swedes and Norwegians in their trans­planting
to the west, but they will find even more parallelisms.
FRANKLIN D. SCOTT
T h e H o n n o l d L i b r a ry
C l a r e m o n t
A l v i n C. Holmes. S W E D I S H H O M E S T E A D S I N I D A H O ON T H E M I N I ­D
O K A IRRIGATION PROJECT. Twin Falls, Idaho: Ace Printing, 1976.
130 pp.
For Americans who emigrated from Sweden before the First World War
and their "Swedish-American" descendants, Mr. Holmes' book might well
be a source of both pleasure and inspiration.
137